More protein + less calories = muscles?

NancyKhuu

I am under the impression that gaining muscle also means gaining weight (for a person who starts with a normal weight). And eating less calories means losing weight. I'm curious as to if I can still gain muscle if I eat more protein but with a calories deficit?

Hornsby

I am under the impression that gaining muscle also means gaining weight (for a person who starts with a normal weight). And eating less calories means losing weight. I'm curious as to if I can still gain weight if I eat more protein but with a calories deficit?

No, you generally can not gain weight in a deficit.

NancyKhuu

I am under the impression that gaining muscle also means gaining weight (for a person who starts with a normal weight). And eating less calories means losing weight. I'm curious as to if I can still gain weight if I eat more protein but with a calories deficit?

No, you generally can not gain weight in a deficit.

I meant to ask if I can gain muscle. Sorry for the confusion. I've edited the original

NancyKhuu

I am under the impression that gaining muscle also means gaining weight (for a person who starts with a normal weight). And eating less calories means losing weight. I'm curious as to if I can still gain weight if I eat more protein but with a calories deficit?

No, you generally can not gain weight in a deficit.

I meant to ask if I can gain muscle. Sorry for the confusion. I've edited the original post

JonnyQwest

More protein while dieting will help you maintain what muscle you do have while you lose weight but you will need to lift weights as well.....for the most part you wont gain muscle in a deficit.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

You might make some newbie gains, but unless you're eating at a surplus, you're not going to see much, aside from strength gains in general. I'm not even sure at your weight that you'll make much in newbie gains, anyway. I could be wrong, but I think you would need more fat to support that.

ETA that you need to be doing a progressive weight lifting routine as well.

bajoyba

I am under the impression that gaining muscle also means gaining weight (for a person who starts with a normal weight). And eating less calories means losing weight. I'm curious as to if I can still gain weight if I eat more protein but with a calories deficit?

No, you generally can not gain weight in a deficit.

I meant to ask if I can gain muscle. Sorry for the confusion. I've edited the original post

Still no.

In order to gain weight (muscle or fat), you have to be in a calorie surplus. You can gain strength in a deficit, but not mass.Resistance training and eating plenty of protein while eating at a calorie deficit will help you maintain the muscle you do have.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/724405-resistance-training-tidbits

For starters, complete novices who have never touched a weight before as well as people who are carrying around a lot of extra fat benefit from the ability to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously. This depends a good bit on genetics too, but in general, simultaneous muscle gain and fat loss (hereafter referred to as recomposition) is next to impossible to achieve outside the realm of novices, overweight individuals and drug users. The reason being, keeping this simplistic, is that muscle building (hypertrophy) is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. Put differently, you need a surplus of calories (more energy in than out) to facilitate recovery and growth of new muscle. While dieting for fat loss, you don’t have adequate calories to maintain your current tissue (hence the loss in weight accompanying a caloric deficit). So adding something as metabolically active as muscle tissue probably isn’t going to happen in the face of an energy deficit. As I’m typing this it seems a bit wordy but suffice it to say, unless you're fat and/or untrained… don’t expect to gain an appreciable amount of muscle while dieting.

LazSommer

I heard you have to do squats.